In This Issue:

Key Announcements

HUD offers information and resources to HUD grantees, partners and individuals displaced from their homes due to storm damage, such as from Harvey, Irma, or Maria. See HUD's website for information about beginning the clean-up process safely and dealing with post-disaster mold, asbestos, lead, and other home health hazards.

Take part in a research study to estimate the health and resilience benefits of improving the energy efficiency of affordable housing stock, sponsored by the JPB Foundation. The project includes a health survey of residents pre- and post-weatherization, interviews with building owners and managers, monetization of non-energy benefits, and a small indoor environmental quality study. Researchers also need your help to recruit energy efficiency contractors working on affordable multifamily housing retrofits for a second study about their experience with healthy retrofit materials. Participation in the first study is limited to properties in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S, but the second is nationwide. To learn more contact Bruce Tonn or Beth Hawkins.

Struggling to get residents to engage with energy saving behavior? The Better Buildings Residential Network offers a community-based social marketing toolkit complete with practical guidance, resources, and examples in a residential context. See the toolkit in action with impressive results from Fort Collins, CO.

Financial Help for Utility Benchmarking: BBC Management Add-on Fee

Are you a current BBC Multifamily Partner and owner of HUD-insured or HUD-assisted properties? If so, you may be eligible to receive a BBC Management Add-on Fee, a financial incentive to BBC Multifamily partners to encourage portfolio-wide utility benchmarking and implementation of energy efficiency measures.

BBC Partners that are actively benchmarking utility data can use these funds to help pay for benchmarking assistance, such as hiring a benchmarking firm or consultant that provides a full scope of services, or applying the funds toward internal staff development. Benchmarking your portfolio is a key part of the BBC commitment, to measure progress toward reducing your portfolio’s energy usage by 20 percent over ten years.

There are four add-on fees for specific activities, for which BBC partners may be eligible:

Activity

Monthly add-on fee (per unit)

Developing and implementing a property-specific green operations and maintenance plan

$1

Resident engagement and education to encourage energy and water efficiency behaviors and best practices

$1

Utility data collection, entry, and/or technical support

$1

Installation and use of energy data benchmarking and reporting software

$1

The cumulative add-on fee may not exceed $5,000 per year per property.

Eligibility

Only those multifamily properties owned by HUD-insured or HUD-assisted BBC partners are eligible for the management add-on fee. Owners may not receive the add-on fee for properties at risk of default.

Enrollment

To apply for the management add-on fee, an owner or property manager must do the following:

Complete a new Management Certification (form HUD-9839-B) and distinguish the add-on fee from any other special fees that are listed on the form.

Submit the form to the appropriate HUD Field Office, along with a copy of the owner’s signed BBC partnership agreement.

Once approved, the management fee, with the add-on, is paid to the owner through the property's operating account. If the property cannot afford to pay the owner/manager during a given month, the management fee may be accrued (appear as an accounts receivable on the property's balance sheet).
See HUD's Memorandum for more information.

Tampa Housing Authority is saving an estimated $51,000 per year after upgrading J.L. Young Gardens with solar panels, bathroom ventilation roof vents, upgraded air conditioning units, and LED lighting with motion and daylight sensors.

Commonbond Communities leveraged its participation in a multifamily energy efficiency Program sponsored by its utility providers to audit Greenvale Place and fund the installation of new CFL lamps, low-flow shower heads, and low-flow aerators for kitchen sinks.

In This Issue:

Key Announcements

HUD offers information and resources to HUD grantees, partners and individuals displaced from their homes due to storm damage, such as from Harvey, Irma, or Maria. See HUD's website for information about beginning the clean-up process safely and dealing with post-disaster mold, asbestos, lead, and other home health hazards.

Take part in a research study to estimate the health and resilience benefits of improving the energy efficiency of affordable housing stock, sponsored by the JPB Foundation. The project includes a health survey of residents pre- and post-weatherization, interviews with building owners and managers, monetization of non-energy benefits, and a small indoor environmental quality study. Researchers also need your help to recruit energy efficiency contractors working on affordable multifamily housing retrofits for a second study about their experience with healthy retrofit materials. Participation in the first study is limited to properties in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S, but the second is nationwide. To learn more contact Bruce Tonn or Beth Hawkins.

Struggling to get residents to engage with energy saving behavior? The Better Buildings Residential Network offers a community-based social marketing toolkit complete with practical guidance, resources, and examples in a residential context. See the toolkit in action with impressive results from Fort Collins, CO.

Financial Help for Utility Benchmarking: BBC Management Add-on Fee

Are you a current BBC Multifamily Partner and owner of HUD-insured or HUD-assisted properties? If so, you may be eligible to receive a BBC Management Add-on Fee, a financial incentive to BBC Multifamily partners to encourage portfolio-wide utility benchmarking and implementation of energy efficiency measures.

BBC Partners that are actively benchmarking utility data can use these funds to help pay for benchmarking assistance, such as hiring a benchmarking firm or consultant that provides a full scope of services, or applying the funds toward internal staff development. Benchmarking your portfolio is a key part of the BBC commitment, to measure progress toward reducing your portfolio’s energy usage by 20 percent over ten years.

There are four add-on fees for specific activities, for which BBC partners may be eligible:

Activity

Monthly add-on fee (per unit)

Developing and implementing a property-specific green operations and maintenance plan

$1

Resident engagement and education to encourage energy and water efficiency behaviors and best practices

$1

Utility data collection, entry, and/or technical support

$1

Installation and use of energy data benchmarking and reporting software

$1

The cumulative add-on fee may not exceed $5,000 per year per property.

Eligibility

Only those multifamily properties owned by HUD-insured or HUD-assisted BBC partners are eligible for the management add-on fee. Owners may not receive the add-on fee for properties at risk of default.

Enrollment

To apply for the management add-on fee, an owner or property manager must do the following:

Complete a new Management Certification (form HUD-9839-B) and distinguish the add-on fee from any other special fees that are listed on the form.

Submit the form to the appropriate HUD Field Office, along with a copy of the owner’s signed BBC partnership agreement.

Once approved, the management fee, with the add-on, is paid to the owner through the property's operating account. If the property cannot afford to pay the owner/manager during a given month, the management fee may be accrued (appear as an accounts receivable on the property's balance sheet).
See HUD's Memorandum for more information.

Tampa Housing Authority is saving an estimated $51,000 per year after upgrading J.L. Young Gardens with solar panels, bathroom ventilation roof vents, upgraded air conditioning units, and LED lighting with motion and daylight sensors.

Commonbond Communities leveraged its participation in a multifamily energy efficiency Program sponsored by its utility providers to audit Greenvale Place and fund the installation of new CFL lamps, low-flow shower heads, and low-flow aerators for kitchen sinks.